Steph
A feminine name originating from the Greek word stephanos, meaning "crown" or "victor's wreath".
Name Census estimates that about 59 living Americans carry the first name Steph. It is a predominantly female name (93.0% of registrations). The average person named Steph today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Steph births was 1960 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Steph. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Steph. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
59
~ 1 in 5,809,396 Americans
Peak year
1960
11 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2021 SSA rank
#6,542
Tracked since 1959
Census
Steph in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,553 people with the first name Steph, which placed it at #6,321 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,321
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,553 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Steph
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Steph is White at 71.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.8%) and Black (6.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Steph described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Steph at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.4% · 1,822
- Hispanic or Latino14.8% · 379
- Black or African American6.5% · 165
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 97
- Two or more races2.8% · 71
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 19
Gender
Gender distribution for Steph
Steph leans heavily female at 93.0% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Steph as a male name
- Ranked #13,815 in 2021
- 5 male births in 2021
- Peak: 2021 (5 births)
Steph as a female name
- Ranked #6,542 in 1971
- 8 female births in 1971
- Peak: 1960 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Steph leans strongly female. 2,289 people counted with this name were female (89.7%), compared with 263 male bearers (10.3%).
Popularity
Steph: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Steph from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 42 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Steph by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Steph during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Steph
The name Steph is a diminutive form of the Greek name Stephanos, which means "crown" or "wreath." It traces its origins back to ancient Greece, where it was a relatively common name for both men and women.
Stephanos was the name of several figures in Greek mythology, including a hero from the Trojan War and a son of the wine god Dionysus. The name also appears in the New Testament of the Bible, where it refers to St. Stephen, one of the first Christian martyrs.
The earliest known record of the name Steph dates back to the 12th century, when it was used as a shortened form of Stephanos in various parts of Europe. In medieval times, Steph was particularly popular in England, France, and Germany.
One of the earliest recorded individuals named Steph was Steph de Langeford, an English landowner who lived in the 13th century. Another notable figure was Steph de Wyntoun, a Scottish chronicler and poet who wrote the famous work "Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland" in the early 15th century.
During the Renaissance period, Steph became a popular name among artists and intellectuals. One of the most famous was Steph Jodelle, a French playwright and poet who lived from 1532 to 1573 and is considered a pioneer of French Renaissance literature.
In more recent history, several notable individuals have borne the name Steph. Steph Curry, born in 1988, is a professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors and one of the greatest shooters in NBA history. Steph Smith, born in 1978, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress known for her work in musicals and television shows.
Steph Gilmore, born in 1988, is an Australian professional surfer and seven-time world champion. Steph Korey, born in 1988, is an American entrepreneur and co-founder of the luggage company Away. Steph Herron, born in 1983, is a British artist and illustrator known for her whimsical and colorful works.
People
Steph + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Steph as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Steph: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Steph?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 59 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Steph going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 5,809,396 US residents.
Is Steph a common name?
We classify Steph as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 71 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Steph most popular?
The single biggest year for Steph was 1960, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Steph is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Steph in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,553 people with the name Steph, or 0.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,321 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Steph in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Steph?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Steph leans strongly female. 2,289 people counted with this name were female (89.7%), compared with 263 male bearers (10.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Steph?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Steph is White at 71.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.8%) and Black (6.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Steph most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Steph in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.4% (1,822 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Steph in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Steph a female name?
Yes, 93.0% of people registered as Steph in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Steph still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Steph in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Steph can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Steph?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.